Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy Fired

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has been fired, according to NBC News on Dec. 1, 2015. In a live press conference, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated he asked McCarthy to resign. This comes in the wake of protests after the publication of the video of the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by police officer Jason Van Dyke.

An acting commissioner, John Escalante, has been named. He will remain in place “until the police board has conducted a thorough search” for a replacement, according to Emanuel.

The public has also called for the resignation of the mayor and lead investigator on the case against the officer. The criticism surrounds the length of time it took to complete the investigation of the shooting death and subsequent arrest of Van Dyke.

McCarthy has also been under public scrutiny for the way he handled a shooting death at the hands of another police officer three years earlier. Rekia Boyd, 22, was unarmed. Her death happened almost three years ago, yet McCarthy announced last week that he will terminate the officer involved.

According to NBC News, McCarthy stated earlier this week that he would not step down and that he clearly believed the mayor supported the way the McDonald case was handled. However, in light of FBI intervention, he decided he had no choice but to resign as requested.